The Latest: 2 teens drown in Romania river amid heat wave

Officials in Romania have retrieved the bodies of two teenage boys that drowned after bathing in a river to cool off during a heat wave.

Emergency officials in the northeast county of Neamt said they pulled out the bodies of a 15-year-old on Sunday and a 16-year-old on Monday morning. They had been swimming in the Siret river.

Emergency services spokesman Adrian Rotaru says that "these teens went into the river to cool off due to the heat wave.... we do not recommend bathing in unsupervised areas."

Romania has been in the grips of a heat wave for the past week with temperatures reaching 42 C (107.6 F) in recent days. Officials say at least two people died last week.

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10:45 a.m.

A heavy storm with strong winds and rain has hit the Balkans as the weather changed following a week of record high temperatures in the region and elsewhere in Europe.

Temperatures dropped Monday by 15 degrees in some areas, bringing relief after reaching more than 40 degrees Celsius (104F) last week.

In Croatia's Istria peninsula, stormy winds late on Sunday uprooted trees and damaged roofs. Temporary traffic restrictions were imposed in some areas along the Adriatic coast late on Sunday and early on Monday.

In neighboring Serbia, sudden heavy rains hit a mountainous region in the west of the country late Monday before spreading to other parts of the country.